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Quilting history in the last 40 years

Quilting history in the last 40 years

Old 02-09-2020, 10:46 AM
  #41  
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Thanks for that info! I'm in Seattle too and have only been to That Patchwork Place once. Now I have too many books to go there!
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Old 02-09-2020, 11:30 AM
  #42  
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This is a wonderful subject. Thank you for starting it.
I would like to add two more ladies to this list.
Georgia Bonsteel of Lap Quilting began on PBS in 1979. I still have and occasionally use her "Spinning Spools" templates.
Sharlene Jorgenson of Quilting from the Heartland series began in 1988. She has some wonderful acrylic templates I also use.
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Old 02-09-2020, 12:38 PM
  #43  
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A huge thank you to those that have followed my previous thread and added valuable information regarding the history of quilting. As this is to be a presentation to my guild I have needed to edit to keep it brief. I anticipate much discussion afterwards as guild members share stories of what they remember and when they started quilting. There was so much more that I could have added if I had more time to speak.Revised quilting History

Quilting is said to have started back in the 13 Century, I am not going back that far in time for this brief history of recent quilting but am instead starting in the mid 1970’s.

The American Bicentennial in 1976 created a renewed interest in quilting and handcrafts. Towards the end of the decade in 1979 came an invention that I think revolutionized the quilting world forever.

The rotary cutter and accompanying acrylic rulers that followed meant that quilters did not have to rely on cardboard templates, tracing shapes on fabric and cutting the shapes with scissors.

Fabrics in the 1980s that were used by quilters could have been…Laura Ashley florals, dusty rose and dusty blue, preprinted panels were popular as well.

Long arm quilting machines for home use emerged in the early 1980’s, machine quilting instead of tying or hand quilting started to be more popular. Safety Pin basting sped up the process and for many replaced hand basting.

Singer introduced its first Computerized sewing machine in 1985…who remembers machines with Cams for fancy stitches!

In the 1980s and early 1990’s quilters were getting new ideas from quilting TV shows, Eleanor Burns, Georgia Bonisteel, Kaye Woods, Alex Anderson were a few of the programs. Sewing with Nancy started in 1982 and ran until 2017, it was mostly a sewing show, but she did feature quilting as well.

The 90’s could be said to be the rise of technology. the internet started in 1991, the first smart phones arrived in the early 90’s and the first digital camera was developed in 1994. Amazon started in 1994, first selling only books and then evolving into selling practically everything. Suddenly quilters had the means to photograph their work and share it online with like minded folks all over the world. Quilting forums were started, fabric swaps became abundant.

Popular fabrics and fabric designers in the 90’s included Civil war prints, Thimbleberries, Kim Diehl, Jo Morton, Robert Kaufman and 1930’s reproductions.

The affordability of digital camera, the availability of modern fabric designs and the use of the internet lead to the birth of Modern quilting in the early to mid 2000’s. Youtube began in 2005 and changed the way that we learned about new techniques and patterns.

While the rotary cutter sped up the process of making a quilt, precuts took it to another level. Jelly Rolls, charm squares, layercakes, honeybuns ,fat quarters and many others meant that a quilter could jump in and start to make a quilt with little or no cutting involved. Or you could cut your pieces and strips with an Accuquilt or Cricut fabric cutting machine.

The 2000’s saw the market flooded with fabric designers, quilt designers and new techniques. Names like Kaffe Fassett, Amy Butler, Tula Pink, Elizabeth Hartman, Tim Holtz, Anna Marie Horner and so many others.

Jenny Doan started Missouri Star quilts in 2008 and we learned new techniques for old patterns from Jenny and other designers. Disappearing nine patch and 4 patch, bargello quilts, Stack and Whack, one block wonders etc.

For many of us Pinterest in 2009 was a game changer, finally a place to keep all those patterns, photos and ideas that we found on the internet in one place. A never-ending source of new ideas!

The decade between 2010 and 2020 brought the invention of Spray Baste , ruler foot quilting and wool pressing mats. Gypsy Wife quilts by Australian Designer Jen Kingwell, a resurgence of Hexagons including huge contributions by our very own Katja Marek with her New Hexagon books and quilt alongs ( Katja Marek lives in my City).

Traditional quilting, modern quilting, Art quilts , hand quilting, English Paper piecing all have a place in the quilting world. Who knows what the next decade will bring for the quilting world. What do you remember? What do you think have been the biggest changes in recent quilt history?
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Old 02-09-2020, 01:26 PM
  #44  
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Very interesting reading. I remember making my first quilt with none of today's notions. Cut all the fabric with a ruler to mark and scissors to cut.
I also remember watching the quilting ladies mentioned as they became more and more informative for us.
Thanks for starting this subject, nice memories.
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Old 02-09-2020, 07:09 PM
  #45  
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First show was in Toronto Csnada, I believe in 2977 followed by a Lincoln a Nebraska the same year snd then The Continental Quilting Congress in Arlington Va in 1978. I was there in 78
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Old 02-09-2020, 10:34 PM
  #46  
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Kaffe Fassett has a Wikipedia page. I gather from it that his impact specifically on quilting has been 21st century, although his work in textile design goes back much farther. I first heard of him when he appeared on Simply Quilts. I was surprised to see he's 82 years old. He is so young in spirit! As for Tula Pink, she clearly is not old enough to have had influence on quilters more than 40 years ago, so she definitely qualifies for this list. I particularly love that in addition to fabric designs she has created some machine embroidery quilting designs which I found on the Embroidery Library website.

The use of the embroidery machine to do home quilting is yet another recent innovation, although technically, the general principle of it is probably what has created such items as the cross-hatched double sided machine quilted fabric that has been available in fabric stores and in ready-made clothing and bedding for decades. Computers have enabled much more complex designs and have made them available to home users over the Internet.
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Old 02-10-2020, 05:06 AM
  #47  
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I would love to see your completed list once you have compiled it. It is like a trip down memory (some forgotten) lane for many of us. What a wonderful idea for a guild meeting!
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Old 02-10-2020, 07:47 PM
  #48  
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I remember I had to travel out of state to find a real quilt shop. Not many shops that were all quilting back in the 80's and the ones I did get to visit had mostly calico fabric, Coats and Clark thread, rotary cutters, and a few rulers mostly Omnigrid. Singer stores were the only sewing machine stores other then Kenmore at Sears in my area. I didn't know anyone that had a machine other then Signer or Kenmore. Pre cuts like jelly rolls and charm packs changed the way fabric was marketed. Then came the die cut machines so quilters could cut their own precuts.
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Old 02-11-2020, 04:51 AM
  #49  
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How abt the first combo Sewing/Emb machine....
Babylock Sashiko Machine which does Faux Hand stitching
Diff types of straight pins...
Basting Gun
Stencils for quilting
Water and iron disappearing solvent tracing pens for fabric
Steam N Seam, Wonder Under, Interfacing etc...
Diff Threads cotton, silk, wool, emb, quilting, sewing etc...
1/4 inch ruler for Paper Piecing
Precuts
batting types
This list could be never ending...good luck


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Old 02-13-2020, 07:23 PM
  #50  
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I've been quilting since 1975 so I was around when quilting became popular again. I remember when Hoffman California fabrics came on the market in the early 80s. Before that most of the quilting fabrics were calicoes. Hoffman prints were more colorful and unusual, some even had metallic accents. I saw them first at a shop in the Haight-Ashbury called Far Out Fabrics. They were expensive, but so worth it! I still have some scraps and use them from time to time.

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